Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-11-01
WOMAN AND HOME.
ONE OF TIE MOST IMPORTANT
APARTMENTS IN THE HOUSE.

ONE OF TIE MOST IMPORTANT
APARTMENTS IN THE HOUSE.
Care of the Cook Stove-The Wise Host
ess-Emerson and His Children-Poison
Iyy--Athleties-Chiidre Dress-Labor
Saving Hints-Items.
One of the most important apartments in
the house is the cellar. and wlthai one that
often receives insufficient attention. "out OF
SIGHT, out Of mind" is exempilhed here, anu
the result may frequently be traced IN the
impaired health of those who live above the
underground lumber ROOM
Old packing boxes, newspapers, broken
utensils, rotting fruit and vegetables, ami IN
some cases such garbage as potato paflngs,
lemon and orange skins, bones, etc, that
should of right be consigned to the swlii pail,
arc suffered to accumulate from one months
end to the other. The unwholesome and un-
pleasant oior that rises like clond when
ever the cellar door is opened is hastily at
tributed to the mustiness popularity supposed
to he all inseparable adjunct to the under
ground regions. Slight but persistent un-
bealthiness in the family is disregarded, and
sharp attack of diphtberia or typhoid fever
Is perhaps needed to arouse the household TO
the danger i'll which They dwell
The cellar is more readily kept clean if it is
cut up into several small rooms, instead OF
being left in one great, undivided chamber.
Where it Is not thus arranged 1t should at
least he partitioned off Oh one side 10y bins to
hold the various stores, in place OF letting
them lie in heaps III corners When BINS are
out Of the question, barrels or large packing
boxes form tolerabie substitutes. The coal is
usually kept in the vaults provided for that
purpose.
1t is great aid in the endeavor to obtain
proper neatness in the cellar if the room is
well lighted and ventilated. The windows
may be kept shut i'll tile daytime, but should
always be left open at night to allow the
fresh air to enter, except when the weather
is SO cold that there is danger of freezing the
supplies of food kept there. Even then the
sashes should be Enclosed night and morning
long enough to permit Il sluice of air to gam
admittance By carefully following this plan
much of the nasty and earthly o'lor common
to cellars may be banishcd. Wire netting
dows in way that may exclude the flies
without hindering the opening of the sash.
There should he q spring attached to the door
that viii prevent its being left ajar and a free
passage to flies furnished by careless servants,
Ii there are no separate vaults provided for
the coal, and it must be kept Ill the common
cellar, large bins for this are Indispensable
The coal should never he dumped into one
corner of the cellar, whence its grimy dust
will be tracked to tie upper floor by every
one coming up from below. Nor should the
wood large and small, be thrown into sn in
discriminate stack, but neatly piled, the
kinding in one place, the logs intended for
the open fires in another and chips, sawdnst,
and shavings swept together and emptied
into basket or box. Vegetables, above all,
should never be heaped on the floor They
70: more easily there besides being unsightly,
and invariably leaving dirt for some one to
sweep up Barrels or boxes NAV hold them,
as we'll as apples or pears. Both vegetables
and fruit should bepicked over often, and the
rotten ones thrown away. The good ones
will keep twice as long il this is done. The
work may seem tedious, but it Is almost essen
tial, especially toward spring, when vege-
tables begin to decay rapidly. Health de-
mands this as well as economy. Many case
of spring illness has been traced 90 harmless
looking barrel in the cellar, where disease
germs are fostered In a mass of putrid yege-
table matter.
The Idea that the cellar is an omnium gath
erum for useless articles of all sorts should be
diligently combated Whatever is not worth
keeping in the certain hope of putting to
service at some future time should he thrown
away without hesitation. The cellar cannot
look neat with heap of lumber and old iron
dsfiguring it. Broken packing cases and
stsveless barrels may be sent here TO be split
up and converted into kindlings as speedily
as possible, while any boxes that may possibly
be put to use are much better kept in the attic
out of the damp.
A cellar floor should always be laid in ce-
ment. An earth flooring holds the dampness
and is, moreover, very hard to keep clean
The cement can be swept, and even scrubbed,
without trouble. The walls and ceilings
should be whitewashed, not only to make the
room lighter, but as means of disinfection.
The embarrassing should be repeated at least
once a year The floor should receive its
weekly brushing with the rest of the house,
and at the same time the cobwebs should be
dislodged and all collections of rubbish re-
moved
The cellar must be supplied with shelves.
Swing shelves are preferable to those set in
the wall, as there is less danger with the
former Of rats and mice having chance to
attack the provisions One shelf should be
kept for the milk, and wiped clean every day
nft ba l. Sri oh
sour milk are always unsavory. The meats,
vegetables, cakes, etc, stored on the other
shelves should always be protected by covers
of wire netting. With all the care one NAV
take, fly or two will sometimes succeed in
effecting an entrance and the mischief they
can do even i'll q short time renders the precau-
ton worth while. A piece Of gauze or mus
quito netting stretched over each pan of milk
may also save fly from involuntary suicide
and the milk from waste. Poultry and meat
that are hung up for day or two should be
incased in stout brown paper, or, better still.
unbleached muslin All shelves should be
scrubbed of every week with a mixture of
washing soda and water, then wipe dry.
1t is great convenience to the housewife
If she can have closet partitioned off and
her pickles, preserves, jeliies and jams Up
stairs cupboards are seldom cool enough ex
cept when they are in so exposed position |
that there is risk of their contents freezing in |
the bitterest winter weather Here. too, can |
be placed the choice fruit, the box of oranges |
or lemons the barrel of pineapples and other |
delicacies, that keep better i'll cold place |
than in an ordinary pantry The semi-gloou
also helps preserve canned goods
Drain pipes frequently traverse the cellar, |
and are likely. from the obscurity of the |
place, to receive less attention than is their |
due. They should often he examined for |
leaks, and any such promptly checked II |
there are open drains, they should be washed |
down with a strong solution Of copperas and |
water. Should the odor from the drains re- |
fuse to yield to this and to chloride of lime |
or potash, they must be inspected by a prac-
teal plumber, and the matter rectified with |
out delay.-Christian Terhune Herrirk in |
Harper's Bazaar !
Care of the Cook Stove.
"Why is it that burn out so many sets of /
stove liningsH some one asks. Let me tell